Côte d’Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo has expressed satisfaction after the West African nation’s warring sides agreed to end a ruinous civil conflict, as United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan urged all factions to honour their pledges. Gbagbo sounded upbeat on his return to Abidjan on Wednesday.
South African oil and chemicals group Sasol on Thursday surged to an all-time high on continued investor interest in the stock due to the extremely high oil price, analysts said. At 11.15am, on the JSE Securities Exchange, Sasol’s stock was quoted at an all-time high of R161,90, up 2,6% or R4,15 from its previous close.
Suzaan van Biljon has once again given selectors something to think about after qualifying for the World Championships for the third time at the Telkom National Swimming Championships in East London on Wednesday night. The 16-year-old claimed a comfortable victory in her 200m breaststroke semifinal in a time of 2:29,44.
Conceding a goal in each half saw Cosmos remain in the relegation zone when they went down 2-0 to Ajax in a Castle Premier League game played at Newlands Stadium on Wednesday night. Ajax can thank their goalkeeper, Moeneeb Josephs, for the three points. Josephs had an outstanding game.
Santos moved out of the relegation zone and occupy the 13th spot on the Premier Soccer League log after sharing the spoils with Wits University in their 0-0 draw on Wednesday night. Wits, who were the hosts of the unimpressive match in front of about 500 fans, remain 11th on the table.
Lance Klusener, the bowler, and Shaun Pollock, the batsman, could not prevent the Highveld Lions from sneaking home by one run in their Standard Bank Pro20 cricket match against the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins at the Sahara Stadium in Kingsmead on Wednesday.
Tiger Woods is still the main attraction at the Masters. But he no longer is the main event. Phil Mickelson is the defending champion when the 69th Masters begins on Thursday, and many believe he is primed to join Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the only consecutive winners of a green jacket.
Chelsea stayed on course to win their first Champions Cup despite the absence of manager Jose Mourinho, and AC Milan moved closer to their seventh European title with victories in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday. Frank Lampard scored two goals to help Chelsea beat Bayern Munich 4-2.
"The line to sign the condolence book at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Johannesburg grows steadily. It is 5.30pm on Wednesday evening and the memorial Mass for Pope John Paul II will start in 30 minutes." The <i>Mail & Guardian Online</i> speaks to South African Catholics about the death of Pope John Paul II.
The Perth Super 14 franchise received its first public knockback on Thursday when in-form fullback Peter Hewat rejected a lucrative offer in favour of re-signing with New South Wales (NSW). Perth have snared two high-profile Wallabies this week in NSW hooker Brenan Cannon and Queensland lock Nathan Sharpe.